novelraw Chapter 221: The Dungeon Games [5]
Chapter 221: The Dungeon Games [5]
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Louis's gaze settled on the last member of Ashur's team. Ishat Ninlil stepped up beside her lord, a young woman with burnished bronze skin. Long, tightly braided black hair interwoven with golden threads framed her face, and her emerald-green eyes almost glowed with intensity. An aura of barely restrained violence surrounded her.
Her uniform had been modified, the sleeves cut shorter to reveal intricate golden tattoos that curled up her forearms like living script. Twin curved daggers hung at her waist, and a golden circlet rested on her brow.
She was said to be one of the strongest close combatants among the younger generation of Mesopotamia. Her awakened "Blood Oath" ability allowed her to temporarily borrow the vitality of anyone she wounded. Ishat possessed a tomboyish and aggressive personality. Besides her lord, she obeyed no one and constantly clashed with members of her own house. The golden tattoos originated from an Entity born within her body, the source of her herculean strength.
Zaidu and Ishtar were provoking the giant by engaging it in direct physical combat. Ishtar conjured endless golden knives that she fired and detonated on contact, while Zaidu empowered his body with heavy golden armor and curved blades. He sliced through the titan's hard armor and bone, creating small cracks for Ashur, Gilgamesh, and Tiamat to exploit with their magic.
Yet it was painfully obvious that the fight was far from easy. No matter how hard they struggled, the Mesopotamia Family could not handle such a powerful boss-type monster as the Astral Guardian on their own.
Their magic and coordination were impressive. They were undoubtedly the strongest students in the academy. Even so, they were clearly biting off more than they could chew. Their glorious and grand spells could not contain the fury of the almighty Astral Giant. His overwhelming power and aura distorted the dungeon's dimension and shook everything to its core. Even the wyrm monsters cowered in fear before his roar.
"GROOOHHHH!"
The Astral Guardian roared as his chains came undone. His eyes gleamed like starlight. His massive body, easily over a hundred meters tall, floated into the air and then rushed toward the smaller students. This was another boss they were never supposed to fight, yet the students had charged in anyway.
"Lord Ashur, please stay behind us!" Zaidu shouted.
"Nnggh! Hey, Tiamat, why don't you turn into a dragon already?!" Ishtar complained.
Both poured all their strength into intercepting the incoming blow, barely managing to stop the titan's titanic skeletal fists. They failed to notice the massive sword sweeping up from below.
The other three students were too busy bombarding the giant with magic to notice. They were focused solely on killing the Astral Guardian as quickly as possible.
"Ah!"
By the time they realized the danger, it was too late.
CRAAASH!
The massive sword came crashing down. Zaidu and Ishtar tried to escape, but the blade caught them. It sliced through their skin and flesh, cleaving both apart. Blood and guts splattered everywhere.
"Eh?!"
Ashur gasped as he watched two of his students die on the spot. His eyes widened in horror as the titan's skeletal claws seized his body and began to crush him.
"Gaaaaahhhhh!"
"My king!"
"Wait, this isn't how it was supposed to be!"
Ashur's bones snapped and pierced through his own skin. He clenched his teeth desperately and unleashed all his magic at once. A massive explosion of blinding golden light blew apart the giant's hand, but he was already too wounded and on the verge of death. He fell from the sky.
"Tsk! Tiamat! Catch him!" Gilgamesh screamed while continuously firing golden treasures at the giant to distract it.
Tiamat transformed into a dragon and rushed to catch Ashur, clicking her tongue in annoyance. "Damn it, Ashur! I told you this wasn't going to work!"
"If only you had used your dragon form, you worthless lizard!" Ashur screamed angrily as he vomited blood. "Zaidu and Ishtar are dead because of you!"
"What?! You stupid bastard, it's your fault!" Tiamat roared, opening her jaws as if to devour him.
"Can't you two stop fighting each other, you imbeciles?!" Gilgamesh shouted, clenching his teeth as he fought with everything he had and began to retreat.
However, the Astral Guardian was far more than a mere titan. His sword gleamed with nebula-like aura as it swung hard, cutting through Gilgamesh's barrier and slashing his entire body into pieces.
"G-Gaaah?! W-Wha…?!"
SLAAASH!
Blood and guts splattered across the skies as his barely living remains plummeted into the endless purple void below.
"Gilgamesh…!" Ashur gasped. "D-Damn it…! How could this happen? This isn't…! This wasn't supposed to happen…!"
"Having problems, you incompetent fool?"
A mocking voice echoed from above. To make matters worse, the man Ashur hated most appeared before his eyes, along with his entire team.
"L-Louis?! You're already here?!"
"I am. It seems your students died due to your own irresponsibility. How pitiful," Louis said. "Luckily for you, we saved their lives. Now you and your worthless house owe us all."
Before Ashur and Tiamat's disbelieving eyes, Zaidu, Ishtar, and Gilgamesh were alive once more. They were held gently in a giant white dragon's hand. Their bodies had been forcefully stitched back together before they could fully die, then healed by a strange black hand with a glaring red eye.
"I did a sloppy job because I had to act quickly," Zorba smiled. "But I stitched them together the way I would my zombies. Fear not, their bodies live… barely."
"A-Ah…" Ashur could not believe the students he had just seen ripped apart were now barely alive. His eyes filled with disbelief. "Y-You damn bastards…! How dare you show me kindness…?!"
There was no greater provocation or insolence than their kindness, especially when it came from the very people who had just saved the lives lost through his own irresponsibility and mediocrity.
Louis smirked as a new system notification appeared.
[You have successfully activated the effects of [Narrative Gravity – Level 1], bringing misfortune and humiliation to your targets. You have received a temporary blessing to your own fortune for the next minute.]
[You have successfully activated the effects of [Villain's Taunt – Level 1], taunting your enemy and stacking five stacks of [Marks of Enmity] on all of them, significantly lowering their growth rate.]
"Retrieve all Marks of Enmity."
Louis waved his hand, absorbing the marks and fusing with the darkness and curse born from their hatred.
[You have absorbed 25 Marks of Enmity.]
[For the next 25 minutes, all your stats have increased by 25%!]
[Your Infamy has increased by +60!]
[Your Villain Rank has increased to "Infamous Villain."]
[Bonuses increased to +20% to all stats, +100% Fantasium regeneration, +35% magic spell power, plus a passive Intimidation Aura that inflicts a fear debuff on weaker foes.]
[Fear: Decreases stats based on the fear the subject feels toward the attacker, up to 90%. Makes decisions harder and causes the body to tremble uncontrollably.]
Louis nodded and faced the Astral Guardian's giant sword. He fully assimilated his Incarnations, fusing with them to achieve his bulky Dragonoid form. He crashed against the titanic blade with Gungnir, Gram, and Muramasa at the same time.
CRAAASH!
Sparks of holy light, chaotic flames, and holy fire erupted. Empowered by his own vileness, Louis gained immense strength. He pushed forward and shattered the entire blade into pieces with a single Dragon King Swordsmanship attack: Ascending Heavens.
BOOOM!
The Astral Guardian groaned in pain as he was pushed back. His gleaming eyes widened in disbelief while he glared at Louis and the others who had so easily destroyed his sword.
"GROOOOHHHH!"
With an even louder roar, he attacked them with beams of starlight from his eyes. The entire house swiftly avoided the beams, moving across the skies and drawing closer to the giant skeleton's body.
Using his Fated Villain Core Spiral Ability, Louis brought misfortune to the heroic skeleton titan. The sword shattered the moment it struck, ruining its "heroic moment" and severely weakening the giant.
The rest of his house charged in. Timothy summoned a giant mass of sharp vines that wrapped around the titan's left arm, digging into its bones and shattering them. Zorba swarmed the head with his undead wurms, firing starlight beams that distracted the giant and slowly damaged its skull and helmet.
Melisa and Selene flew around at high speed to distract it. When the opportunity arose, Selene dove like a meteor and smashed the skeleton's hard mithril helmet with her berserk charge attack, shattering it completely.
Agustina used her Spiritual Forge to modify and destroy sections of the giant's armor, opening weak spots for Anastasia to slash through and destabilize the monster's stance.
Afterward, Melisa fired beams of holy light that severely damaged the undead giant. Mirai and Louis then charged together, avoiding the giant's beams and massive hands.
In their monstrous forms, they pierced the skeleton's head, shattered its Mana Core, and killed it on the spot.
BOOOM!
Unlike Entities that possessed multiple cores and could regenerate easily, this giant undead from Yggdrasil was not that difficult to kill.
"W-Wha…! How is this possible?!"
Ashur's mouth hung open in utter disbelief as he stared at the overwhelming strength of House Frostbane. It turned out that it was not just Louis who was strong. Everyone in his house was incredibly powerful.
"Goodbye, Ashur. Take care of yourself."
Louis waved his hand at Ashur before stepping through the vortex that appeared, leading to the Fourth Layer.
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